Don’t Tape Me Bro

You might have missed this last night. And who could blame you, since you were probably watching the Mets get bludgeoned with a blow-up mallet by the White Sox, which is the equivalent of “living under a rock” that people would accuse you of if you have gotten this long without seeing what happened in last nights A’s/Indians game:

So to sum up, Angel Hernandez had video evidence that Adam Rosales hit a home run … not just a home run, a game tying home run with two outs in the f*cking ninth … and still ruled that he hit a double. The A’s lost 4-3 as Rosales never came around to score.

Major League Baseball released a statement:

“By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief. In the opinion of Angel Hernandez, who was last night’s crew chief, there was not clear and convincing evidence to overturn the decision on the field. It was a judgment call, and as such, it stands as final. “Home and away broadcast feeds are available for all uses of instant replay, and they were available to the crew last night. Given what we saw, we recognize that an improper call was made. Perfection is an impossible standard in any endeavor, but our goal is always to get the calls right. Earlier this morning, we began the process of speaking with the crew to thoroughly review all the circumstances surrounding last night’s decision.”  

Well that’s all well and good, Joe Torre. But without action, words mean nothing. The action I would like to see taken: Well, among other things, Angel Hernandez being shot into the sun. Nothing short of that. Not only did he blow the call with the help of replay, but then to have the nerve to demand that reporters not get him on video explaining his position???

Angel Hernandez said no recorded interview, only write down answers but says they didn’t have enough evidence to reverse call. #Athletics

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) May 9, 2013

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Gee Angel, would you like us to take out the green M&M’s too? Of all the people to say “don’t tape me bro”, of all the umpires to say “don’t tape me bro”, this guy?

“Hernandez is reputed around the league to be an umpire who yearns for the spotlight.”

That league, by the way, was the American Association, as that quote was from 1991, as he was blowing calls at a young age! How was he promoted? Now look, I’m not for calling on people to lose their livelihood. But when it comes to Angel Hernandez, how much more proof do you need, Joe Torre? Usually, I’m into fixing the problem instead of firing somebody to prove a point. And I think a “war room” in New York, just as the NHL does in Toronto, would be the perfect way to go. I’ve always thought that. But nobody would be talking about a war room if Angel Hernandez was competent at his f*cking job!!! So while I care about fixing the problem, shooting Angel Hernandez into the sun would go a long way towards fixing the problem.

Not to mention provide accountability, which is non-existent among the umpiring contingent. Jim Joyce was a good umpire who made a horrendous call. Nobody wanted him fired. Angel Hernandez is an arrogant incompetent fool who makes horrible calls all the time. And he might have cost the A’s a division title or a playoff spot. So again, words without action are useless. That game needs to be picked up at 4-4 somewhere down the line in the season. No, you don’t want to set a precedent in terms of replaying games from certain points. But since the 1983 Pine Tar Game, I’m fairly sure that no other game has been picked up a month later because of a reversal of an umpiring call. So if setting a precedent means this happens once every 30 years, I’m okay with that.

That, along with instituting a war room in New York which would create jobs (okay, like five of them), along with shooting Angel Hernandez into the sun would be appropriate actions to back up empty statements. I won’t hold my breath.